Mt. Miguel Fire Nearly Contained, Officials Say

JAMUL —  State forestry officials expect to contain this morning the Mt. Miguel brush fire, which had burned almost 12,000 acres of brush in the East County and destroyed three homes by late Monday.

A spokesman for the California Department of Forestry said Monday night that the number of firefighters had been reduced to 200 from 500 during midday Monday as crews closed in on the blaze.

For most of the day Monday, the fire moved away from homes in the remote area, and no additional homes were threatened. There have been on injuries, a spokesman said.

Arson investigators were on the scene Monday, attempting to determine the cause of the blaze.

In North San Diego County, at least one home was destroyed Monday when a brush fire broke out in Gopher Canyon, northeast of Oceanside. More than 150 firefighters from the Forestry Department and the Rainbow Volunteer Fire Department battled the blaze, which had burned 1,200 acres by late Monday. A Forestry Department spokesman said that the spread of the fire had been stopped and containment was expected early today.

The cause of that fire is also under investigation.

The Mt. Miguel fire broke out just before noon Sunday at the base of Mt. Miguel on farmland along Millar Ranch Road, near California 94.

One of the homes burned was on Millar Ranch Road; the other two were on Proctor Valley Ranch Road. Cele Cundari, a forestry spokeswoman, said investigators were trying to determine the value of the homes lost. Several cars were burned as well.

Cundari said residents of the three homes had not been able to return to their property to assess the damage. “As far as we know, they’re staying with friends in the area until they can return to see what’s left,” she said.

The fire also destroyed a barn and several shacks nearby before burning east toward the Steele Canyon Road area. Several farm animals died in the early hours of the fire. California 94 was closed for several hours at Jamacha Road on Sunday afternoon.

At the peak of the East County blaze, 564 people were fighting the fire, Cundari said. Firefighters from the U.S. Forest Service and the Inland Valley, Spring Valley and Santee fire departments were on the scene, along with some from the Forestry Department.

In addition to about 40 engine crews, six air tankers, two helicopters and five bulldozers were pressed into service Monday.

Three television stations with transmitters atop Mt. Miguel were knocked off the air about 3 p.m. Sunday because of the fire and did not resume broadcasting until Monday morning. KUSI, Channel 51, reported that it was off the air until just after midnight; KTTY, Channel 69, did not resume programming until 7 a.m., and KPBS, Channel 15, was operating by just before 9 a.m.